Month: January 2008

It’s the Wheelbarrows Full of Cash

Sailorcurt offers me some criticism in the comments:

Sebastian, I have a lot of respect for you. You seem to be a very reasonable, wise, and responsible person…but I fail to understand your seemingly vested interest in supporting the NRA no matter what.

I do it because we need a national gun rights movement, and the NRA is the only organization out there that represents that.  SAF, JPFO, and even GOA sometimes can have their uses, but if we had to rely on those organizations we’d be finished.  I support the NRA even when they make mistakes because I want to win this.  For me, and for future generations.

But I’m also not supporting this situation.  I’ve said repeatedly I disagree with the NRA’s priorities in Georgia.  I have told them the same.  But my perspective is one of a concealed carry license holder.  An important thing to remember is that people who carry guns are a minority among gun owners.  Reforming carry laws may be a priority to you and me, but there is a lot of support for the “Parking Lot” initiative among gun owners in general, especially gun owners who hunt and shoot recreationally after work.   Should NRA abandon those interests in favor of ours?  Would the people who support the Parking Lot initiative as their priority also be justified in their anger at NRA for abandoning them?

Maybe I’m wrong for not being more outraged by this.  If you think that’s the case don’t be shy in the comments.  But I think we need to distinguish between making some interests of gun owners a priority over others, and throwing other groups of gun owners under the bus for the sake of others.  Carry reform is not dead in Georgia because of this.  If NRA had agreed to, say, add more restrictions on concealed carry to get their parking lot bill, my level of anger would be a a lot higher.   That’s the kind of thing we can’t do.

GeorgiaCarry.org is pissed because their legislation, which seemed likely to pass, got killed when NRA attached their Parking Lot provision to it.  I don’t blame GCO for being pissed about it.  They represent a certain constituency, and NRA decided another one was more important.  Was this a smart thing for NRA to do?  From my point of view, no.   But my point of view isn’t the only one that matters.

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  1. If Dr. Seuss had a PA LTCF
  2. Georgia Looking at Further Easements in Carry Laws
  3. Winning Hearts and Minds in Scranton

Now That’s Drunk!

It’s amazing that this woman wasn’t dead.  Apparently Oregon is the state for Extreme Drunk Driving:

Comer is pictured below in a 2006 mug shot snapped after a prior drunk driving arrest. In that case, her BAC was recorded in the relatively minor .3 range. In November, another Oregon woman, Meagan Harper, was nabbed for drunk driving with an extreme BAC. In her case, Harper’s BAC was measured at .55. Comer’s .72 edges out what TSG has previously identified as the highest BAC we’ve ever seen. That fallen record (.69) was held by Willard Ashley III, an Indiana man who was busted in October 2003. (3 pages)

Wow.

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DC Incompetence Pays off Big Time

I’m guessing these guys Dave Hardy is talking about don’t have much experience filing briefs with the Supreme Court.  So the Supreme Court actually pays someone to sit there and count the words to make sure it’s just within the right limit?

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Speaking of Property Rights

Apparently the State of California doesn’t have much respect for them. There a guy in my neighborhood that has a giant boat in his driveway. I don’t mean a small outboard motor boat, I mean a rather large vessel, that’s been up on blocks for several years. Various thoughts go through my mind about this huge eyesore in my neighborhood:

  • Is he expecting one day the Neshaminy Creek will actually flood that high?
  • Christmas is coming, is he going to decorate the boat?
  • I wonder if the paint chipping off it is lead based?

But one thing I woudln’t presume to do is ask the government to force him to remove it. It’s his driveway. I wouldn’t even presume to ask him to remove it privately. I certainly wouldn’t dream of asking the government to trespass on a man’s property to ticket it.

Of course, I doubt anyone asked. They just decided. No doubt parking ticket revenue dried up when they banned overnight parking, forcing them to seek out new sources of banditry revenue.

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